JAN 09

I think this is great, although I'd like to see more information regarding their consumption of water and if there is any effluent from the process.

Also, not sure if I heard it correctly, but did he say investors wanted to use 7700 acres of rainforest in Malaysia for this process? Please tell me they won't be cutting DOWN that forest for this...

So, it seems like they are cutting down rainforest..... ok nevermind. Joe (the comment before me), basically just said my point. I truly hope I misunderstood him when he said that.

Yep: we see a lot of this in Australia (being close to Indonesia)...the push for biofuels is moving at full throttle and chopping down rainforest to plant jatropha et al is really happening (see: http://www.grain.org/nfg/?id=502).

The only bright spark I have seen in that wretched industry is a guy who is trying to promote biofuels for biodiversity (see http://testone.okstate.edu/deb...g=5&cat=16)

While one acre of soy can produce about a barrel of biodiesel a in a year, the same land dedicated to this unique process produces between 1500-2000 barrels of B100 a year,

Well the Federal Government is subsidizing corn like mad and it is only getting worse with the threat of corn based biodiesel.

Anyone have a comparison of corn versus biodiesel?

As always I remain optimistic but very skeptical. I have yet to see a biofuel that I would actually consider good for the environment in any meaningful way. Take to an extreme it seems to me that biofuel can be even more socially disruptive then oil.

Why do they need to chop down forrests to grow algae in a pond? They can do that on waste land, a roof top, or even a hydroponic tank.

Geeze that sucks.

so what if they cut down some of the rainforest in order to get the algal oil. let the people in those countries decide what to do with thier own resources. if we in the united states were able to tap all of our own resources there would be no need for these bio-fuels in the first place. thank you sierra club for not allowing us americans to use our own resources, therefor requiring us to go overseas to acquire our needed hydro carbon energy, fossil and bio. get over it you hippies, everything has an impact.

I have land in Malaysia for a different project and let me tell you they do not cut down any rain forest for anything. Malaysia has protected about 70% of its land and preserved the rain forest. Exact figures are available on the Malaysian government websites, so don’t listen to people without credibility. The only land used for any kind of industrial, agro or development projects are in secondary jungle (not rain forest), Reclaimed land or existing cleared lands. They have many levels of government that monitor this and are very fast to act with horrific consequences. It would be impossible to touch the rain forest or primary forest areas in Malaysia. Remember Malaysia is rich in offshore of oil and gas. They do not need money like Indonesia or Brazil who are famous for killing the forests.

Dear Readers,

My name is David A. Johnston and I'm the CEO of Aquatic Energy LLC (the company mentioned in this video.)

I would like to offer two important Clarifications:

#1. We are not cutting down the rain forest in Malaysia or anywhere else. The land in Malaysia that we are looking at is currently under utilized RICE LAND. This particular rice land is unproductive because of salt-water infiltration and as a result the land has poor conditions for growing rice and the farmers there are looking for alternatives. However our algae does not mind the salt water and therefore we can use such marginal lands for algae to Biodiesel production. Giving both a benefit to the local community, the environment and the local economy.

#2. While Matt Pushkin is correct in the amount of algae oil that we produce 1,500 to 2,000 gallons per acre, each year. The video uses the wrong unit. In the video the unit "barrel" is used to describe our production rates. The correct unit is gallons NOT barrels. Both for our yearly production of the facility we are commercializing in Louisiana and gallons produced per acre. It’s a common mistake.

When compared to soybean oil or palm oil, which produce 100 and 500 gallons of oil per acre, per year, respectively algae growing 1,500 gallon an acre each year is an excellent improvement for the Biodiesel industry. And more importantly it begins the move away from edible oil to high growth rate non-edible oils that do not compete for farmland. Helping to solve the food vs. fuel issue.

I hope those clarifications are helpful.

All The Best,

David A. Johnston
Chief Executive Officer of Aquatic Energy LLC
Website: www.aquaticenergy.com

Thats right Malaysians dont cut their own trees but they go to Indonesia and cut trees over here since Indonesian government are rot with scumbacks who care nothing but money >:(, and malaysians know that and leverage on that

I would like to make two points:

I think this is the least destructive cellulosic form of biofeul in terms of wildlife conservation and economy. Another company is also attempting this (ww.solixbiofuels.com) in a closed system. I particularly like the closed system because any waste can easily be contained and wastes and nutrients easily reused. Since there aren'y any trees in Arizona, this facility would have limited impact, not to mention the great amount of energy (sun) available in the area. Regardless of the technique I don't see why this is not a viable option. WE currently produce tons of excess algae (take a look at an aerial photo of the Chesapeake Bay), so lets utilize this nuisance group.
The issue I see with the open system is the problem with colonization of insects in these algal system. It seems it would be an expensive venture to filter out the insects and other organic material.
Oh and "so what" - just in case you were not aware, some NGOs do actually manage their conservation land for forest products and oil, but understand how to balance conservation and societal issues.

An important factor is the cost per acre. It does say "modified" farms. Also to filter the algae and then extracting algae oil, costs can be quite high.

There are 4 companies doing the full circle in Nebraska that I am covering on special assignment right now.

One company consults, one grows as a forming co-op CSA, one presses the oil and sells the equipment and they are just starting a fueling station to sell everything.

Contact me to get help so you can do this in your town too.

*I am a free lance journalist for environmental groups so if you represent an org that would be interested in my articles contact me also please.

myspace.com/timfrentz

Indeed most chinese malaysian with some back up from ex pm and his family chopping all trees in Indonesia from sumatra trough Irian. This malay scumbag bribing another fellow indonesian rat. That is also why malaysian govt never been give indonesia a hard time although every year they send a forest burn smoke to malaysia ( the malaysia scumbag burn the forest)....